Range Rover Sport HST Debuts With Electrified Straight-Six

Land Rover has announced a new mild hybrid version of its high-end Range Rover Sport model.

Initially available solely on the HST special edition model and priced from £81,250 in the U.K., the newcomer uses a 3-liter straight-six turbocharged gasoline engine and a mild hybrid system, which uses an electric motor to harvest energy normally lost under braking. This power is stored in a 48V battery and can then be used to improve the engine’s efficiency when it is under load, such as when pulling away from traffic lights.

But electricity isn’t just used to reduce the amount of fuel used – it’s also there to make the car faster and more responsive. Land Rover has fitted an "electric supercharger" system, using the electrical power to spool up the turbocharger more quickly and reducing the "lag" usually associated with turbocharged engines.

In total, the system produces 394 horsepower, allowing the big 4x4 to sprint from 0-60 mph (0-96 kph) in less than six seconds and hit a top speed of 140 mph (225 kph). And because of the mild hybrid technology, the car returns 25.4 miles per gallon, converted from 30.5 mpg UK or 9.3 liters / 62 miles (100 km), and emits 213 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. It doesn’t sound like much of an improvement but bear in mind that this engine’s predecessor – a supercharged V6 from the Jaguar F-Type - was only capable of 22.4 mpg and 243 g/km on the now-defunct and less stringent NEDC economy test. And that’s despite the V6 having less power.

Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, said the new engine would also be more refined than the old V6 thanks to its in-line layout.

The new engine is not the first mild-hybrid unit to find a home under the hood of a Land Rover, after the new Range Rover Evoque was revealed a few months ago with mild hybrid power. The new 3-liter engine will be built alongside those powertrains at Jaguar Land Rover’s engine plant in Wolverhampton.

Although Land Rover has said the new engine will only be used “initially” in the special-edition Range Rover Sport HST, the company’s use of the word “initially” suggests it will feature in other models eventually.

For now, though, that means the starting price is a little over £81,000 in the U.K., but you get a range of internal and external updates for your Range Rover Sport, including carbon fiber trim on the hood, grille, and side vents. You also benefit from 16-way electrically adjustable Dynamic seats, plus red brake callipers and chrome gear shift paddles. There’s a choice of five exterior colours, too, including Santorini Black, Fuji White, Indus Silver, Firenze Red and Carpathian Grey.